Here is Simon Gough introducing the White Goddess: An Encounter and reading a selection of extracts from the book, alongside a few all new personal notes.

It's a lovely recording - and all the more impressive because Simon has been in and out of hospital for the past couple of weeks, attached to various tubes, struggling with his breathing and generally having a rough time. When I visited last Sunday he looked tired at first, and weaker than usual, and took a long time to catch his breath. I even wondered if it was a good idea to ask him to do such a long reading: but there was something in his face that told me he was going to damn well do it and like it too. And so it proved. He had to gather strength for a while, when faced with the microphone: but then he let rip. Now and again, you can hear the him struggle for breath on this recording, but his voice is strong and true and full of the power of whatever it is that enabled him to write this remarkable book in the first place…

It's haunting, in short. I hope you enjoy it.